Thursday, August 5, 2021

Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Friday, 06 August 2021? Start here!

Today is your Day 1?

Welcome to r/Loseit!

So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

Why you’re overweight

Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

Before You Start

The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

Tracking

Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends an app like MyFitnessPal, Loseit! (unaffiliated), or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

Creating Your Deficit

How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.

The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

Exercise

Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel *awesome* and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

Crawl, Walk, Run

It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

Acceptance

You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.

Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

Additional resources

Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

* Lose It Compendium - Frame it out!

* FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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Whether it's bad or good news, I always want to eat

I got some news today. It was actually amazing news and to take off that excitement edge... I caved and got myself a big tub of ice cream which is now beside me and is empty. Unfortunately this isn't shocking behavior from me.

I do this a lot. Stressful day? Food. Survived a stressful project? Food. Had a fight? Food. Successfully stuck to my workout plan for a month? Food. And the list goes on.

Food is my go to escape and celebration. I was wondering if anyone else experiences this and you deal with it. This is especially counter productive when I'm proud of any weight loss I have, just to yo-yo back to my original weight.

Thanks

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going to the doctor tomorrow, feel like I'm going to lose my mind if I find out the number. rude nurse might make it impossible to not. can I please get some advice?

hi. I am 22/F/5'4"/???. I was on a weight loss journey early this year and then had a severe mental health decline. With it was a horrendous backtrack with fitness progress. I have gone up a size, I can see it in the mirror. It horrifies me. I only look in the mirror when I can't avoid it. I've become obsessive about it. I don't know how to explain the severity of my mental state with it right now. But it's bad. And I feel like I'm barely holding onto myself. I feel very close to giving up.

I just know that if I find out the number and it's over a certain number it's going to be too hard to handle. I am very worried about what will happen to my mental state and to my progress of slowly getting back onto my feet if I find out the number and it's what I'm fearing. I'll be crushed.

The problem is that the nurse at my doctors office (very small practice) says the number out loud. Last time I went, I did not look, but she said it out loud anyway, and it was very embarrassing and hurtful. I have been eaten up with anxiety about the idea that she is going to do it again. Not because other people might hear. But because I truly and deeply do not want to know. I do not think that there is anything good from knowing for my mental state. I have been slowly getting back on track starting this week but I ONLY use tape measurements because of how discouraging and overwhelming the scale is for me. I am so anxious and worried she is going to do this and that I will have to find out that I feel very tempted to cancel or postpone. But I don't want to do that. I want to go.

Has anyone had similar experiences? Is there a nice way to try and ask that that doesn't happen this time?

Please be nice. I know this is unhealthy. But everyone heals at their own pace. Short-term, knowing the number is not going to do anything good for me and is only going to make it harder.

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SV on my way to Two Twenty by Twenty Twenty Two

TLDR; A fairly lengthy story ensues, but I'm down 70 pounds from my start weight and had my best walking split time today. If this tale inspires or motivates one person to pursue a healthy lifestyle, it is worth it to type this out.

My weight loss journey began about three and a half years ago. I was doing some thrift store shopping hunting for treasures one Saturday when I found a large scale for dirt cheap. I hadn't owned a scale for probably a decade or more, so for a couple of dollars, I thought, 'why not?' So I took it home, gave it a good wash, and set it on the floor. Little did I know that the little black box that I had just brought into my home was about to become my worst enemy.

I knew that I had let myself go a bit over the years, but I was in for the shock of my life. I cautiously mounted the nonskid platform bracing myself for mild disappointment. How bad could it be?; I thought. I climbed on, and that little red arm began its long, long journey across the dial. I waited with a look of horror and disappointment on my face as the dust settled at my new high score of 335lbs. Three Hundred and Thirty-Five Pounds; Holy Crap!

Right then and there, I decided that this must stop; I have to do something. I knew I was large and rotund, but 'I carried it well.' My six-foot one-inch frame was one of the 'heavy-duty muscle car' models they made back in the seventies, but this measurement was well above and beyond its designed weight rating. All brought to you by today's sponsors Little Caesars and Coors Light.

I started with many good intentions. I bought some new walking shoes. I quit my thirty-year smoking habit; cold turkey. I paid to join a gym. I bought workout clothes. I researched fad diets and other quick-fix solutions. I meticulously crafted workout playlists for inspiration. I was slowly paving my road to denial and failure. Fast forward six months, and I had actually been to the gym five or six times. I was smoking again. This whole 'being healthy' thing was kicking my ass, and I was letting it. I fell off that horse and landed face down. Alas, at that time, I thought that was rock bottom.

Time traveling to another point about eighteen months ago brings us to the second of my 'send me a sign' moments. I woke up one morning, and while reaching for my morning cigarette, I coughed like I have a million times before. But, this time was special; this time, there was blood. I can attest that retching up blood from your lungs before breakfast is one of those 'meet your maker' moments they talk about in great novels and heroic stories. So I decided that the cigarettes had ended their run that day. I did need to use a crutch by purchasing a vape, but the actual cigarettes stopped and will not be allowed back. So that is how my quest to find health began.

I started eating a little better with an attempt at a basic CICO diet instead of one of the fad diets. I was still weighing north of 300 pounds. And then I found the absolute rock-hard bottom. I went to bed one night, literally fat and happy. I woke up the following morning feeling rested, but there was something different. Three of my toes on both feet were both numb and on fire at the same time. Neuropathy had set in. Fuck me (for not) running.

I went to the Doc-in-a-box that afternoon. My feet were on fire, and my labs were alarming. My triglycerides were 6000+, and the 'doctor' said 'welcome to being a diabetic.' Unfortunately, I did not have health insurance, and every step I took felt like walking on glass. I am a veteran, and I signed up for VA medical that day. It took a while, but the Doctors at the VA did get me the right medications to stop the 'rats chewing on my feet' sensation. Thankfully, the same meds also helped my underlying depression and Bipolar disorder.

Now that I had my foot pain in a manageable condition, I could start to move physically. If you have never truly 'let yourself go,' you will not entirely understand what that means. If I were to fall on the floor, I could not pick myself back up again without a chair to climb up with. I started by walking—one foot in front of the other. I walked the trip to the mailbox first; then, I ventured to the end of the block and back. And then I braved going all of the way to the end of my street, a journey of almost one-half of a mile.

One-half mile became one. After several days of that, I decided to add a little backpack weight to strengthen my knees. Wash rinse repeat. And then one mile became two. To make a long story short (too late) today, I both had my lowest weigh-in and my best split time walking. After walking two miles with a 16-pound pack at a 16:09 split, I weighed in at 264 lbs, the lowest I have seen in a while.

Cutting meat out of my diet and practicing basic CICO has let me drop 70 lbs, avoid diabetes, lowered my triglycerides down to 200. So, here I am, creeping up on 50 and making the decision not to die slowly, one piece at a time. If I can do it, so can you.

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My dad has diabetes

So my dad was diagnosed with diabetes. And it bad enough that he has to take insulin immediately rather than any sort of tablets etc.

We are being supportive. We've cut out all carbs from his diet whilst it gets under control, including root vegetables which contain higher amounts of carbs than other veggies. We aren't eating anything naughty or carbs either to be supportive and not tease. Like eating bread right in front of him is a bit mean etc so we aren't eating carbs either.

But the bit that has really got me. Is the fact he's my dad..... And has been diagnosed with bad diabetes.

I mean. It's my dad. The man who is like immortal. Who never gets hurt. Never gets sick. And suddenly it's like, he isn't immune. He isn't immortal. This is real and it's not a small thing. I know diabetes can be controlled with diet and insulin etc but what I mean is it's not like a 3 day cold which will go away. It's here to stay.

My super power dad has diabetes. He's...... Human.

And the second thing to hit me. I weigh approx 17 kilos more than him.

17 kilos more than my taller father..... Who's just been diagnosed with diabetes.

So aside from dealing with that due to his no longer superman quality. We've cut out carbs, sugar, sweets etc you name it.

And I realized that if my superhuman dad can get diabetes, I can most definitely get it too. And sooner than I might think, especially weighing 17 kilos more than him.

So I went and bought a scale for myself to use. To weigh and record daily.

The zero sweets, biscuits, chocolates, and smaller food portions that we've just started will help him as well as me.

If my superhuman superman dad is just that.... Human ....... Then I am seriously waking up to the fact that unless I pull my finger out right now, I'm going to go the same way and be diagnosed within the next year or so.

I know some people just decide now is the time, others need a wake up call. I've been saying for about 10 years that I need to lose weight and never have. But this ? This has really shocked me, upset me, and I feel that this is the wake up call that I have unfortunately been waiting for to take my weight loss seriously.

So now it starts.

Taking care of my dad. Taking care of me.

And loosing some serious weight as of right now.

TL:DR my dad has diabetes. I weigh more than him. Realised I need to take my weight seriously, stop messing around and lose a lot before I get diagnosed with diabetes too

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LF Some advice regarding weight loss?

Hey guys, I've got a couple of questions, also any advice here is welcome.

Age: 23

Weight: 230lbs

Height: 189cm / 6ft2

Activity level: minimal, desk job

My current goal really is to get below 200lbs by losing as much body fat% as I can, I don't want to lose muscle.

At the moment, I try to make my daily Calorie goal at maximum, 1800 and probably average around 80g of Protein a day? If this is bad in any way, please do let me know.

I do admit, I'm a bit of a lover for Pepsi Max. Which is advertised as 0 calorie 0 sugar, I can drink anywhere from 1 can to 3/4 cans a day honestly.

My question is, can I still lose bodyfat% weight with that Calorie limit + consuming a sugar / calorie free drink such as that? Genuinely just looking for advice.

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Working out wayyyy more, eating less, not losing anything.

Hey everyone, figured I ought to ask you all what to do as you all have much more experience than me with physical activity.

I am a 19 year old male who currently weighs 295 and is 6 foot 3 inches tall. I have been going to the gym anywhere from 4-6 days a week (lifting weights with some light cardio mixed in) for about 3 weeks now. I have been lifting with a very experienced friend and a couple of our other friends joined us recently so we are helping teach them.

My TDEE maintenance (according to tdeecalculator .net) is 2,916 calories if I was sedentary, and if I am doing moderate exercise (3-5 days a week, which I am doing a bit more and the exercise is pretty intensive), my TDEE is 3,766 calories. I have been eating 2,800 calories per day.

I have gained a TON of strength. The newbie gains are really impressive. My problem arises in the fact that the scale has not moved at all. My experienced friend told me today in the gym that I look slimmer, and I definitely feel better physically, but I just can't comprehend why I would still be the same weight. I still feel quite fat for sure, and I just want to at least see that I am making some sort of progress on my weight loss.

Should I go down in my calorie intake even further? I know 2,500 is my BMR, so it probably wouldn't be too great for my body to go below that, especially while trying to build muscle.

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